A domiciliary Sleep Study is a fairly straight forward investigation and it is the only way of definitively diagnosing Sleep Apnoea.
An experienced member of the team will fit the person with a monitoring machine. This clinic has one of the most advanced Sleep Study machines that provide added information which many other standard machines do not show. Most sleep study monitoring machines have catheters (tubes) that are attached to your face with bindings to the head, like a mask. There is also a pulseoximeter attached to a finger, which measures the blood oxygen content. Both these devices are connected to a small machine that is harnessed on to your chest before going off to sleep. A lot of people find it very difficult to get to sleep attached to this equipment.
The home Sleep Study machine from this clinic is more advanced and does not require anything to be attached to your face. It is more like a very large “watch” that the person wears on their wrist and is far more comfortable. This device provides all the information that other devices do. In addition, it shows the time spent in deep sleep, REM sleep and light sleep as well as how long it takes for a person to get off to sleep. Therefore, it provides added information that is very useful in the management of sleep breathing disorders. For example, it may show that there is no significant Sleep Apnoea but the snoring alone has led to a greater amount spent in light sleep, which may be the cause of excessive daytime sleepiness.